| Request/Grievance |
Respected Vyas Sahib ,
Please find attatched my note which might be of interest to you
regards
R.k.Handa
JAMMU TO HAVE 4TH BRIDGE OVER TAWI ALONG WITH LAKE AND BEAUTIFUL RIVER FRONT:
After much wait , J&K State Govt has decided to construct 4th bridge over river Tawi to decongest Jammu city and lake in order to boost tourism potential.
I have tried to find out alignment of the proposed bridge fixed by PWD .It is proposed to be constructed about 1100 meters down stream of 3rd bridge ,bridge near Gujar Nagar being the 1st .The exact location fixed by PWD is behind RTO office in R.S. Pura bus stand adjoining warehouse .There shall be in fact two bridges one on the north and the other on the south side of the island in river Tawi through which Ranbir canal is crossing the river through two siphons .There are high tension electric towers as well on this island as can be seen from the 3rd bridge down stream .
This shall be a four lane bridge .The implementing agency is state PWD and the contract stands allotted to state Project Construction Corporation which is further awarding the contract to some private contractor.
Why are we having a bridge? Obviously to decongest the western part of Jammu city which is expanding towards west and south .The idea is that traffic going towards Akhnoor,Rajouri ,Poonch passes through the so called western bypass without touching the congested city . Another idea is to see that local traffic from Satwari ,Bikram chowk, Gandhinagar and other southern Jammu going towards Jammu west i.e canal head ,Talab Tillo, Akhnoor road etc. do not create problems at Bikram Chowk , Jewel Chowk canal head Talab Tillo road and so on .
I have a few comments and suggestions to offer.
1. The alignment of the bridge has been fixed perhaps without making an overall development plan of approach roads an both sides of the bridge .As can be seen on southern side ; the bridge is proposed to be connected by :
a) Bikram chowk towards warehouse near lime kilns on the Tawi bund by single lane .
b) Asia hotel towards Nehru Market ,R.S. Pura bus stand .
c) Satwari crossing towards cantonment road –towards Military hospital along Ranbir canal and then touching Tawi bund at almost at right angle from Raipur road.
..Belicharana complex of Animal husbandry Deptt shall come under airport .
d) The road from Military hospital towards Raipur Satwari bazar is supposed to be abandoned leaving space for expansion of Jammu airport towards river tawi.
e) A road proposed to be constructed from RTO office towards proposed bridge shall get extended towards Raipur Satwari bazaar for giving approach to those areas which are presently being fed by Raipur Satwari road .
f) On northern side ,the proposed bridge shall touch Bhagwati Nagar .
g ) In the first phase from Bhagwati nagar the traffic shall move towards power house ,and canal head at women police station.
h) In second phase possibility of diverting traffic from Bhagwati Nagar towards Sh. Amarnath Yatri Niwas and then extending towards under construction sewerage treatment plant and then touching Akhnoor road is being explored.
Infact some patches of roads are existing here and there on the alignment. These are rural roads of single lane and thick construction is existing along these small roads .
Detailed survey perhaps has not been carried out , nor any project report and design has been prepared as far as this road is concerned .
Bottlenecks of the concept plan discussed above:
a-1) Bikram Chowk towards ware house on tawi bund :
The traffic from Punjab towards Akhnoor ,Rajouri,Poonch shall continue pour in up to congested unmanageable Bikram chowk and warehouse area .
b-1) The traffic from Punjab going towards Rajouri ,Poonch shall continue to come up to Asia hotel and shall further add to traffic problems in Nehru market on Jammu cantt road ,R.S. Pura bus stand ,which is already in bad condition with trucks parked although .
On one hand ,Govt is thinking to construct flyover from Bikram Chowk to Convent school for the purpose of decongesting the area and make traffic from Gandhi nagar up to Bikram chowk smooth while on the other hand , the connection from Asia hotel towards RTO office is being made congested .
c-1) The existing road along military hospital is already narrow with little chance of its widening ,military hospital being on one side and Ranbir canal on the other side .
g-1) Road from Bhagwati Nagar towards canal head is too narrow to take the load of heavy traffic from the proposed bridge .The crossing at canal road near women police station towards Akhnoor road is bad in geometry .
h-1) Whether we shall be able to construct a four lane road from Bhagwati Nagar along Tawi down stream upto Akhnoor road is a question mark as no detailed survey seems to have been done and no design has been prepared . Even availability of corridor is not sure .
If this road comes up ,it needs to be linked to settlements and colonies in between this road up to Akhnoor road by a number of wide roads otherwise the tendency of locals shall be to go towards canal head from Bhagwati nagar {human tendency to take shorter route even if it is congested , & time consuming ,Taking this route shall mean burning more fuel by driving in ist or 2nd gear ,.More brakes shall have to be applied and above all driver shall remain in stress.}
This casual approach may lead to chaotic conditions making it an other example of 1st bridge touching Gujar nagar .The road on the north side of bridge could not be widened to the extent required either towards Vivekanand crossing or towards D.C . office & even ahead of it on circular road .
The concern is that a total development plan with all surveys and design along with land acquisition wherever required has not been done before fixing the alignment of the bridge ,which will result in make and shift arrangements leaving very little scope to improve later on .
It is felt that more due diligence needs to be done considering following points ;
1. Need, scope ,and technical appraisal .
2. Financial appraisal
3. Economic appraisal .
4. Environment appraisal.
5. Social and resettlement appraisal
6. . Transport plan
WHAT should be done at this stage ?
The need to construct 4th bridge was felt about 12 years back . At that time it was felt that the 4th bridge shall work as western bypass of Jammu .There were suggestions that western bypass should start from Kunjwani behind J .K.Public school .There were some suggestions that this bypass could be started from Raya Morh ahead of Baribrahmana .
In light of above following proposals need to be studied urgently before starting construction at the proposed alignment:
1. Possibility of starting the by pass behind J .K. Public school needs to be explored although this shall involve lot of land acquisition but if this proposal if gets matured shall be a long term remedy .
2. Possibility of shifting alignment somewhere Niki Tawi bridge should be explored .
3. On the north side of the proposed alignment of the bridge the implementing agency should think of phase 11 abandoning the idea of phase one .This means from Bhagwati nagar towards S.O.S home along Tawi , sewerage treatment plant and then meet on Akhnoor road in case proposed alignment can not be shifted down stream .
Some more suggestions
1 .In 2007, Era had conceived construction of flyover from Jewel Chowk to canal road up to circuit house but the proposal could not be found feasible. To decongest road from Jewel chowk to circuit house , possibility of constructing a road from Govt quarters on Jewel chowk behind stadium along river Tawi extending beyond fisheries guest house up to Bhagwati Nagar and even ahead could be explored .This could be one way road .
2.At canal head when we go towards Akhnoor road the geometry of road needs to be improved by acquiring old depleted shops opposite women police station .As we go from circuit house towards canal head , land on left side needs to be acquired to improve the crossing in front of women police station .The road from this crossing opposite Pawan Ice cream on Akhnoor road need to be widened on left side .
It is proposed that PWD should conduct a seminar and presentation of the proposed bridge in order to clear doubts of public and invite suggestions from other engineers ,surveyors ,town and transport planners and experts in environment and social sciences .JDA should play the role of ensuring controls over areas around the proposed roads connecting the bridge and should make zonal plans .The agriculture character of the areas should not be allowed to be changed as far as possible .
Proposed Lake in River Tawi :
The state Govt has decided to create lake upstream the island through which siphons of Ranbir canal pass . This proposal shall go a long way in adding to the beauty of the city .
A few points need to be noted before taking up the execution of work .
Old city is on a slope and entire storm water and lot of solid waste in lanes and drains flow to Tawi through following nallahs
1. Pakki Dhaki Nallah
2. Peerkho nallah
3. Numerous Gujar nagar drains
4. Slaughter house nallah
5. Jogi gate nallah
6. Prem nagar deep drain
7. Kanji house nallah
8. Chand nagar nallah
9. Rehari ganda nallah
10. Krishnanagar nallah
11. Bhagwati nagar drain
12. Puran nagar nallah
13. Nitco lane drain
14. Bhawani nagar drain
15. Drain behind Krishi Bhawan
16. Janipur nallah
17. Power house escape channel
18. Bakshi nagar nallah
19. Bahu nallah in Jammu south
20. Nallah from Bikram chowk in Jammu south .
Presently all sewerage from the latrines also go to the river through these nallahs and drains but under Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and ADB loan 11,sewer lines from old city are being constructed which shall go to sewerage treatment plants near SOS home behind Krishi Bhawan . From STPs treated water shall flow into river Tawi
{IT needs to be noted that down stream of STPs site for ranny wells has been earmarked by ERA as a number of trial bores have been drilled by ERA and it has been established that ranny wells are very much possible in this area and if constructed shall solve the problem of potable water in Jammu west .
Therefore out flow of STPs should be discharged at least 500 meters downstream the site of ranny wells .PHED should should take possession of land where ranny wells are proposed .ERA should make a master plan for construction of ranny wells and the rising mains and OHTs so that corridors for rising mains and land for OHTs are available with PHED .
Above all unless site for land fill is finalised and work for dumping solid waste at land fill site is started, all these proposals shall be of no use .
It is sad that in spite of serious follow up by ERA from 2005 to 2008 the Municipal corporation could not make available land for land fill site .}
But in case the flow of untreated storm water and solid waste from these drains and nallahs is not stopped into river the proposed lake shall become marshy land full of filth and beauty of city shall get harmed ..
There is a proposal that under JNURM, UEED shall construct a cross drain (intercepting Sewer ) along Tawi which shall carry all storm water from various nallahs to STPS behind SOS home .
It has also been proposed that during torrent rains ,the gates leading to intercepting sewer shall be closed and storm water along with solid waste shall go straight to river but this shall pollute the river. Therefore this problem needs to be tackled by experts in the field
There is also a proposal of tourism deptt .to develop river front .
It is a sad state of affairs ,that one deptt does not know what the other is doing and there is no coordination among various deptts .Here PWD is the implementing agency for construction of 4th bridge through JKPCC which is further allotting the work to some private contractor, Why JKPCC is involved ? Perhaps the Govt wants to provide oxygen to this corporation which shall charge 20% to 30% on the cost to be paid to the contractor . PWD could allot the work direct to the private co by inviting tenders . Irrigation deptt has to construct the lake ,UEED has to construct intercepting sewer for 18 nallahs , tourism deptt shall be developing river front and again UEED and ERA have to construct sewerage lines and STPs.
JDA and Municipal corporation are not in the picture .
ERA is constructing intake well on the southern bank of river Tawi for lifting water for drinking purposes in south Jammu upstream intake of Tawi Canal .Hence before this project of ERA is commissioned the project of diverting storm water of city to intercepting sewer should be completed . Rather storm water in Bahu nallah also need to be diverted .
To make these projects a success , it is proposed that planning Commissioner who is also CEO of ERA should be the chief coordinator of all these programmes and should be actively involved in the proper and timely implementation of these programmes right from design stage to the commissioning .Rather these programmes should be considered as one project and each programme as sub project and there shall be different activities under each subproject. Pert chart of each activity and sub project shall have to be prepared and work monitored at least once a month with physical and financial targets fixed .Piece meal and short hand approach needs to be avoided.
The govt should take possession of island which could be developed by tourism deptt or floriculture deptt as a recreational spot .
All commercial activities around 4th bridge ,islands, banks of river and proposed lake should be banned and vacant lands could be developed as recreational areas ,green lands ,parks and gardens and even as city forest. land around the proposed projects should immediately notified and acquired and properly fenced to avoid encroachments . Zonal plans should be prepared by JDA so that proper approaches and corridors could be made .
R.K.HANDA
Ex Director ERA.
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Economic Reconstruction Agency 